Kidnap My Heart
by finish line
Summary: SasuSaku. AU. Upon having fallen into cardiac assessment for months, Sasuke undergoes heart transplant after a recent attack. Unbidden, the heart he has borrowed beats for only one woman, and Sasuke struggles to identify the foreign feeling he gets to experience.
1. Hearts

Dedicated to **Mozelle**.

**{ Kidnap My Heart }  
**_the stars lean down to kiss you_—

**CHAPTER I**_  
—Hearts_

Kito Sai — clad in immaculate white polo shirt, which was a great contrast to his black hair and black eyes — grinned as he drove his way towards Konoha Medical Home, one of the best-serving hospitals situated in Tokyo, Japan. His coal-black eyes shifted from the road ahead to the bouquet of red roses that sat on his car's passenger seat. He decided that this day, he would take his time to finally and officially make Haruno Sakura his.

They were special — his feelings were. They started from the moment he first laid his eyes on her during their college days (— _Was it what they call "love at first sight"?_ he thought absently —) in Tokyo University, and furthered when they proclaimed each other as best friends. Sai thought it was mere physical attraction towards the girl — with her hair uniquely pink and her eyes tantalisingly green — but it _changed_ somehow. Unknowingly, Sai wormed his way into Sakura's life and, eventually, into her family's.

Who would not want _the_ Kito Sai for their only daughter? He was an over-achiever, an athlete, an artist, and, most of all, a business tycoon. At twenty-seven, Sai managed to expand his company into a series of branches that never failed to amaze the world of entrepreneurship. His name was present in a number of industrial revolutions that exceptionally improved Japan's economic repute.

To have Haruno Sakura, the prodigious doctor famed for her innovative ways in the medical field, for a girlfriend — much more a wife — would make Sai's life perfect. At the thought, Sai's smile stretched even further into a bright, blinding happiness.

They were never together, and they never really set a label on their relationship — but they did love each other and they did have what anyone could refer to as mutual understanding. Sai and Sakura would often call each other despicable names and would mock each other, but all these were done with affection that only the two of them would understand.

The feelings were uncalled-for, but somehow, they remained stuck in there. They were inviolable for some reasons.

The familiar ringing of his phone snapped Sai out of his reverie and he shifted uncomfortably on his seat to get it off from his pants' pocket. He stared at the caller ID and grinned dumbly when he saw the name.

_Incoming call . . .  
— Ugly Sakura_

His smile remained intact as he pressed the answer button and spoke, "So . . . how is my Ugly do —"

The light ahead turned red, and he failed to halt the car just in time.

The haunting screeching of tires against the wet, asphalt road boomed into the atmosphere, the deafening car honks dimming into the background as Sai manoeuvred, horrified, with the stirring wheel. He saw his world turn around as he tried to gain control of the stirring wheel but when he thought he managed to avoid the incoming car from the other side, another huge truck came into view . . . and all that Sai managed to see was red.

Memories flashed before Sai's black eyes as the snowy road and the massive truck flanked him and his dark blue Lexus car. And somewhere, in a building where walls were white and where lives were saved and taken, a certain pink-haired doctor felt her heart plummet to the white-tiled floors.

* * *

It had been going on for half an hour already and Uchiha Sasuke knew he would not be able to work properly this way. The painful thudding of his chest urged him to grip on it tightly, still trying to make sure no one else noticed. He flinched when he unconsciously made a heavy step and furthered the heated pain. As he walked his way towards the laboratory, a few workers greeted him, to whom he merely nodded his head in acknowledgment.

He was a rather influential person in the office of the Anbu Black OPS Forensics Division where his older brother, Uchiha Itachi, was the commandant. Anbu Black OPS was a subdivision of Japan's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that worked directly for and most trusted by the government. It held the best among the best workers and successfully closed infamous critical cases.

The Uchiha clan had had a long history in the development of the stealthy organization, thus the authoritative positions.

As Sasuke took his seat in front of the laboratory counter, he heaved a heavy breath and reached out for the files sent by his older brother. He concentrated on reading the descriptive details, looking up occasionally to check how his fellow workers were doing. The report was regarding an asphyxiation incident on the five-year-old grandchild of the new Prime Minister that cost its young life. There were a number of scenarios played into the incident, and it was his job to figure the truth out along with his team.

His job was not easy — he had to be objective, critical, and open-minded. It required all sense of rationality and meticulousness. What conclusion could be gathered from the investigation would always matter.

The dark-haired man placed a grip on his chest as he set down the folder, and sucked in a heavy breath. He flinched when he felt something in his chest twist and heave, like a heavy metal was placed upon it.

"Nara," he called out to the black-haired man sitting across him in the lab, breathless and flinching. The aforementioned man looked up from his work and raised a weary eyebrow on his colleague. "Could you" — Sasuke grimaced, pausing to breathe in deeper — "could you head over — t-to the — ugh!"

Nara Shikamaru bolted upright when Sasuke swayed and fall sideward, face contorted from the deep pain.

"Uchiha!" Sasuke vaguely heard the man call out. Shikamaru's hasty voice caught the attention of the other workers in the laboratory as he kneeled beside the prodigy and looked up for help from their fellow scientists. "Inuzuka, go call an ambulance. Oi, Hozuki, get his pills from the counter in his office and hurry!"

The other forensic investigators in the laboratory mobbed around the Uchiha, all helping out to gather him up.

* * *

Five hours had passed since Haruno Sakura witnessed the doors to the emergency room swing open, the bloodied and battered Kito Sai presented to her care. She had hyperventilated at the scene, panicked, and almost collapsed. Frantic, she helped the nurses stroll the gurney towards the operating room.

Had she not phoned Sai at that fateful moment — had she known he was driving — none of this would have had happened! She knew it. She heard everything — the thudding of the phone against the car's floor, the loud car honk, the deafening screeching tires. . . .

Sakura was connected to Sai during the accident, and, somehow, she felt as if she was at fault.

Sakura removed the mask off the lower half of her face, her eyes teary and red.

Outside the operating room, the young doctor could see, sat the Kito family, apparently hoping that everything could go all right. For the five hours that the operation had gone on, Sai was slowly falling apart, and it made things harder for Sakura to tell his family. Senju Tsunade, the famous doctor known in not only Japan's medical field but also worldwide, remained finishing the operation on Sai, having asked Sakura to go and report Sai's condition to his family.

Kito Kasumi, Sai's mother, stood up, staring imploringly to Sakura when she saw the young doctor. It broke Sakura's heart how the dark-haired woman had so much faith in her when, inwardly, Sakura knew she could not do anything.

"Dear, how is he?"

Sakura gazed at her for quite a while, hesitating. She turned to the rest of Sai's family — his father and older brother.

Sakura averted her gaze back at the weary woman and said, "Auntie, I — I have done my best. He's . . . he's still being tended by Tsunade-shishou right now, but. . . ."

The roseate-haired woman blinked back grieving tears when, unblinking, Kasumi's lachrymal glands produced the unwanted tears. How much would this woman be able to take when Sakura would finally relay Sai's real state?

"I'm sorry, he's —" Sakura paused, a lump forming on her throat. She cleared her throat and said, in a tone an octave higher, "He's brain-dead."

Tears broke free and uncontrollably plummeted down from Sakura's green eyes as Kasumi sunk down to the tiled floors, eyes wide in heart-breaking shock. It was painful to see a mother hurting for her fallen son, who would never wake again, smile again, and hug her for numerous times.

"I'm so sorry . . . ," Sakura repeated, her voice drifting into a mere whisper. She walked away in heavy atmospheres, Kito Akira and his older son holding up the Kito matriarch her parting sight. Along the way, she kept muttering the same apology, apologising more to Sai than to his family.

There was something in her heart beating only for Sai. It was something strong, something that only the man could hold. She loved him? That could be it, considering all those times they spent together, the sweet yet annoying name-callings. . . .

She had no idea what would happen if Sai's heart stopped beating. Would hers do as well?

Sakura's blind musings were cut off when her pager went off, and a message calling for assistance in the emergency room flashed before her eyes. She debated on whether she should go on or not, but remembering the picture of Sai's dying soul, Sakura thought she should forget the torturous things even for a while, be a hero even when there was nothing about her that could pertain to her as such.

She ambled slowly to the emergency room.

* * *

When Sakura opened the door to her office after an hour of defibrillating on a man caught by cardiac attack, she did not expect to find the black-haired mother of Sai who sat on the pink-haired doctor's red couch.

"I'm not angry at you, you know," explained the woman as Sakura closed the door behind her. She watched as Sakura convulsed into frenzied sobs, a result of embarrassed and ashamed persona — every emotion she kept bottled up pouring out. Kasumi stood up and walked towards her, embracing the doctor into a loving engulfment. "I know you did your best. I'm painfully aware you love him too much to fail him."

Sakura hugged the woman tighter, afraid that if she let go, she would shatter into a million of pitiful pieces. "It's my fault, Auntie," she sobbed, "it's my fault. I should never have called him. Had I known . . . had I known. . . ."

"Shh," whispered Kasumi, stroking Sakura's pink hair, "had you known or not, either way, this would still happen. Fate has its way; it just so happens it involved you in."

The pink-haired doctor shook her head as they went to sit on the couch Kasumi was previously sitting on. Sakura's office was simple — a waiting lounge was separated from her office desk by a thin screen and the walls were painted white and pink. Behind her office desk was a ceiling to floor window, and a tiny refrigerator stood at the near corner beside the air conditioner.

"But it is a hopeless case and I can't even do anything!" Sakura bit her lower lip as she continued, "He's been sent to the ICU to just — just —"

"To just die?" supplied Kasumi, a sad smile forming on her lips. Sakura's head snapped to the woman. "It's painful to have your loved one taken away from you, much more your son, but this is what happens to every human, after all."

"I'm so sorry!"

There was silence as the two women just sat there and stared at each other. After a few more haunting seconds, Kasumi spoke again.

"He won't completely die, Sakura," she said. "He'll be here" — she placed a hand on her chest — "in our hearts. Besides. . . ."

Kasumi paused, and Sakura cocked her head to the side in confusion. Her bright green eyes had dulled into momentary confusion, her tears long stopped from falling. There was something that Kasumi had been implying, and Sakura wanted to know.

The older of the two women sighed before finally breaking the perplexity. "Sakura, dear, our family has decided that the moment Sai's breath breaks, _you_ transplant his heart to a family friend's son."

Sakura's eyes widened at the revelation. Her pulse thudded against her ears as she tried to speak, but her voice box had a lump against it. _Transplant? Heart transplant?_ she mused. It was not that she had not done the operation before — it was a costly operation for the part of the patient — it was just that she thought it was . . . weird.

"B-But why?"

Kasumi's face softened into a sad smile. "This family friend's son is of the same age as you and Sai. We considered him and his brother a family already — because their mother is my best friend — and since they were children they'd been constant guests at home. I heard he had been undergoing heart transplant assessment and is in need of the perfect donor."

"I —"

"I heard from my best friend that a certain Dr. Haruno was tending to her son and I knew then that it's only you I can trust in this critical operation."

Something in Sakura clicked. If she was not mistaken, two hours prior, she had been talking to a tall man whose black hair was tied into a low ponytail — the brother of her patient, she assumed — and an aging yet deeply gorgeous black-haired woman. She found out that the patient had been undergoing transplant assessment for six months already, until his recent attack. It was risky, but it was the best they could do.

The doctor could see the older woman's eyes moistening in unshed tears. Kasumi continued, "Sai has a donor card. And we're willing to —"

"But it's risky, Auntie!"

"But you've done this before."

That statement silenced Sakura.

"And I trust you, Sakura," supplied Kasumi, tears welling up in her grey eyes. "I know Sai's going to leave soon, but knowing his heart beats inside a person whom I considered a son already makes me feel like everything's going to be OK."

"Auntie. . . ."

Kasumi was smiling and mourning at the same time, biting her lower lip to keep herself from caving in to the temptation to fall apart. Sakura watched as the lady gazed away so distantly, seemingly recalling intangible memories with her son.

And Sakura knew then that she was going to miss Sai's teasing smiles, the "Ugly" reference, the jokes. She was going to miss how her heart beat whenever she was around him and how she felt secured at his presence. She was going to miss the love that transpired between them and the trust . . . the sound of the beating of his heart whenever she hugged him — _everything_!

Heart thudding loudly against Sakura's breastbone, she finally said, "I will see, Auntie."

Tears soon kissed Kasumi's cheeks as her lips formed a grieving smile.

"If this means Sai's going to live and see the future, then I'm willing to do anything."

—_and i lie awake and miss you  
_**{ to be continued }**

* * *

**author's notes. **_edited many times, re-posted. comments? it's been a while since i last published/updated anything._


	2. Speak

Dedicated to **Mozelle**.

**{ Kidnap My Heart }  
**_pour me a heavy dose of atmosphere_—

**CHAPTER II**_  
—Speak_

"Sakura?"

Haruno Sakura breathed in heavily. She had no idea how she would act around the person to whom she transferred Sai's heart. It was weird; it was curious. Sai's heart — the heart she had fallen in love with, the heart that equally captured hers — was practically alive in another man's body, and she wondered how she would feel upon finding herself face-to-face with the new man.

Sakura felt Kasumi grab her shoulder, squeeze it, and then smile at her. "Relax, OK?" she told Sakura. The doctor smiled back at her and they started walking their way towards the Kito manor's sitting room where the Uchiha family lounged. "I swear, Sasuke-kun does not bite."

Sakura shook her head and chuckled lightly. It appeared to her that the Kito matriarch was very much aware of her unhealthy acquaintance with the young Uchiha. She fumbled with the white bow of her black dress as she recalled the confrontation she had with Uchiha Sasuke, two days after the operation.

_And to think that I don't even know him really_, Sakura added at the back of her head, mentally berating herself.

The Uchiha man had denied the heart transferred to him after knowing that the donor had been Kito Sai. Sakura, then, was about to enter the room when she had overheard the man say he would rather have died than accept the heart of Sai, so he'd very much appreciate it if they rip the other man's heart out of his body and leave him to death. Driven by anger, Sakura marched in and pointed an accusing finger on her patient.

"I don't care if you are related to him in one way or another, nor do I care if you don't want his heart in you," she had said, ignoring the fact that the patient's family was there. Her face was already considerably flushed from both anger and exhaustion as she went on, "But stop being ungrateful — you're even luckier than he could never be."

Because he was dead.

Two months ago, Haruno Sakura forcibly removed the heart of Kito Sai from its original build, cutting the last string of hope for Sai's living. The worsening condition the Uchiha underwent made the Kito family concede to Sai's brain death and allow the transplantation to go on earlier than expected.

Sakura frowned and closed her eyes. She could only hope that this meeting with her previous patient (— _Sasuke, was it?_ she blindly thought —) would do them both advantageous favours. She was not so sure if she could take further humiliation from the Uchiha family after everything that had transpired between her and their young son.

Almost too soon, Sakura heard Kasumi announce, "Mikoto, I've asked her to come over and see you again."

"Ah, how darling!" cooed Mikoto as she advanced towards the pair and placed a hand on Sakura's cheeks. "You still look as pretty as you did the last time I saw you which was . . ." — she turned to look over her shoulder — ". . . when was the last time we've seen her, Itachi-kun?"

Sakura caught sight of the same man who she had conversed with, just two months prior, about the severe heart failure of his younger brother that needed transplantation.

"The minute after she reprimanded otouto, Okaasan."

Sakura blushed embarrassingly at the older man's statement. She wondered if the Uchihas would only remember her not because she was Sasuke's surgeon and doctor, but by how she had reprimanded the young man. Sakura shook her head slightly to prevent herself from recollecting the memory.

After the humiliating event, Sakura had another cardiac doctor take over her position for a while although she remained as the main practitioner of Sasuke.

"I'm sorry about my outburst from before, Uchiha-san," she immediately apologised as she curtseyed shyly.

Mikoto laughed so beautifully that Sakura wondered if she were a descendant of a stately clan. She led Sakura towards the couch saying, "It's OK, dear. I know very well that Sasuke-kun was being such a _huge_ jerk."

There was a grunt from the older woman's back and Sakura subtly tiptoed to look over. On one of the blue loveseats of the Kito family sat a man with hair spiked up backwards, molten onyx eyes narrowed down at her. Beside the seat he was sitting on was a manually-operated wheeled chair, and behind the wheeled seat stood a much older man with a stern and stoic face.

Sakura assumed that the latter was the Uchiha patriarch, Uchiha Fugaku.

Kasumi's giggle tingled in the air as she wrapped an arm around the pink-haired doctor. "You must know, Sakura, that Sasuke-kun's action that day very much reflected his twisted attitude," she confessed seemingly truthfully, to which Sakura raised an eyebrow. The two older women burst out laughing as Kasumi continued, "He wouldn't be the Uchiha Sasuke we all know if he didn't deny Sai's heart."

"Auntie . . . !" hissed Sasuke from where he was sitting. Red tint painted the tip of his ears. Sakura vaguely speculated if it was out of embarrassment because the woman was aware of Sasuke's apparent contempt on her son.

Fugaku faked a cough either to hide his amusement or to genuinely call the attention of the women just as he did later.

"I must say," started Fugaku, making his way towards his wife, "that you, ladies, may have forgotten about our supposed lunch. I expect we can continue this conversation over meal."

Itachi followed suit and commented, "It has been a while since I have last tasted Aunt Kasumi's cooking."

"Of course, Itachi-kun," laughed Kasumi. She clasped her hand around her best friend's forearm and said, "Now, everyone, this way. Shin and Subaru are already waiting in the dining room."

Sakura blinked rapidly when everyone started leaving the sitting room one by one. It confused her when each of them gave her meaningful glances upon stepping out of the room, and surprised her even more when Itachi placed a hand on her shoulder upon passing her by. Not knowing how to respond, she gave him a friendly nod and watched them walk before her.

She was about to do as they did, when she heard a low growl from behind.

She turned around just as the doors leading to the rest of the house closed shut. That was when she realised that Uchiha Sasuke was left in there with her, still sitting on the couch and not knowing how to stand up properly.

They gazed on each other for quite a while before Sasuke demanded, "Are you just planning on standing there or are you going to help me on my wheelchair?"

It was then that Sakura realised the authority in the man's voice. He could easily demand things and answers even to strangers like her without worrying about any other things. She took in his neat, black polo shirt (— _Everyone today is wearing black. I wonder if the Uchihas are weeping about the loss of Sai along with me and the rest of Sai's family_, Sakura wondered —) and his untidy black hair.

If she were to judge, she would say that he and Sai looked almost the same, but not really. The man in front of her was darker, and yet more . . . more _vibrant_. His skin was pinkish, unlike Sai's pale-white skin. Although apparently black, Sasuke's hair held that hue of blue, and his eyes were too grey to appear black.

"Hey," the man called, glaring daggers on her.

Sakura sighed. She might as well get it over with.

* * *

It took the pink-haired doctor a few minutes and a great magnitude of energy before she was able to successfully help Sasuke on his wheelchair. She found the job even dreadfully difficult when the man started to rely greatly on her for him to stand up, giving in his full weight.

Sakura let out a big breath before smoothening her black dress. "That's a relief," she muttered, looking back to Sasuke. "You're too heavy and you rely solely on the person helping you stand. At that rate, it will really take a while before your muscles return to their prior health."

"Hn," grunted the man as he looked away.

Sakura shrugged before taking her leave. "I guess this is what Itachi-san meant when he patted my shoulder," she mumbled to herself, thinking back to the moment when the older of the two sons clamped his hand on her shoulder upon leaving the room.

When she reached for the doorknob, Sasuke called out, "Hey, annoying doctor."

The hand that was holding the doorknob tightened around the object as the doctor glared. She spun around on her heels and placed her hands on her waist as she questioned Sasuke, "Did you just call me _annoying_?"

"Hn."

The pink-haired medical practitioner huffed in incredulity. She said, "Well, guess what? I'm not really in the mood to keep up with ungrateful comments from patients who, practically, should be thankful."

"_I_ should be grateful?" asked the dark-haired man in mocking and sarcastic tone. "To the likes of _you_?"

Sakura glared. "This is why I won't regret that I reprimanded you in front of your family two months back."

"As if that did you any good," replied Sasuke. "You merely embarrassed yourself."

"You know what?" Sakura started as she approached the young man, jabbing a finger in the air. "_You_ are so ungrateful, so proud of yourself, jerk. Why can't you just be thankful for once and respect me as your doctor?"

Sasuke's gaze hardened. "Why? Did you prolong my life? No — not really. What should I be thankful for?"

The doctor fought hard the urge to punch the man in the face. This was what she hated most about rich, egoistic patients — _transplant _patients, to be precise. They never knew how to express their gratitude. She knew, even at that first moment they met in the hospital after the operation, that this man was incorrigible.

"I _did_ alleviate the pain you experience, admit it or not. Cardiac transplantation isn't meant to prolong life; it is meant to alleviate the sting in the chest cavity."

There was a long pause between the two of them, and when Sakura thought that Sasuke was not going to answer back, the man spoke. Sakura was uncertain if she did see a look of apprehension in the Uchiha's eyes.

"Then what's the _real_ purpose of operating me if fact remains that I have less than ten years to live, or that I could die at any given moment from random diseases . . . even just from a mere cold?" questioned Sasuke, unblinking.

"Just be thankful, OK?" Sakura screeched, apparently exasperated. By then, she was unconsciously flailing her hands. "All I need is a thank you from _you_, although I appreciate the thanks of your family. Or at least just be gratified that you're still given a chance to live when —"

"Ah, so it all boils back down to him, huh?" snapped Sasuke. It was true that then was just the second time they saw each other again, but Sakura felt that he was anticipating her near mention of Kito Sai's death.

Sakura was rendered silent, her hands falling to her sides.

Sasuke scoffed. "Maybe if brain transplantation exists and is accepted for clinical use, you would have chosen transplanting _my_brain into him rather than _his_ heart into me."

So he knew about Sai's brain death prior to the transplantation. Of course, that was to be expected. He did take transplant assessments. He knew that most donors who are brain dead prior to the real death were the best heart donors.

It felt like all that was left of Sakura's composure was crumbling down, making her burst out saying, "Yes, that's true, because I'd _never_ sympathise a person like you!"

"Then you already know the answer to your own question," said Sasuke simply, eyes boring holes into her. "You just said the answer."

". . . What?"

"You were asking me why can't I just thank you and respect you as my doctor. You really want to know why?"

Sasuke looked calculating then. The pink-haired doctor wondered just who he really was.

"It's because you don't deserve my thanks and respect, _Dr._ Haruno," continued the man as he closed his eyes and opened them only to glare at her. "If you think I don't deserve to live, then you don't deserve any admiration and credit in return."

_Is this what people call reversed psychology? _ Sakura felt like everything that had taken place was calculated and expected, and it seemed like Sasuke knew whatever the doctor was going to say and wherever it would go.

Silence stretched between the two of them and Sakura wondered if they were soaked in silence for one whole hour. All they ever did was stare at each other, look down on the floor, and before Sakura knew it, she was already crouching on the ground, staring at Sasuke's figure.

When Sakura was young, she wondered why every other child could play in the dirt, could play under the rain, or could play at all when she was forced to read medical books by her parents or dissect a frog. She was born a genius, people said, and Sakura wondered if any of what they said really answered her question.

She supposed being "born a genius" also meant being born selfish.

"Are you a psychologist?" asked Sakura, finally breaking the cold silence. "You do realise you just turned my own words against me, don't you?"

Sasuke shrugged, his eyes set on his feet.

"I'm sorry, I guess," continued the doctor. She blinked back the tears that threatened to leave her eyes. "It's just that Sai . . . it feels like he never really left. It feels like he was never meant to leave."

It surprised Sakura that Sasuke replied, "I know."

The roseate smiled sadly. "It feels like he is just at work and I will keep waiting every night for his call to tell me to go to sleep and he'll be seeing me tomorrow."

At that, Sasuke did not reply.

"How are you and Sai related?" Sakura asked, hesitantly changing the subject. It took her a few moments before equipping, "You appear to be so hard-core on hating him."

Sasuke shrugged for the umpteenth time that afternoon. "We used to be rivals in everything."

"Hmm, even in girls?" asked Sakura, smiling slightly at a few certain memories. "Sai was known in college for all the girls that flocked him constantly."

Sasuke huffed. "Tch, it's ironic that when we were kids, we compete on how many fan clubs are dedicated for us."

The doctor shook her head in amusement. Silence stretched into awkwardness, and before she knew it, she was already saying, "I miss him dearly."

". . . I figured as much."

"Well! I'm hoping you continually take your medication at the right time," Sakura voiced out as she hoped the awkwardness would fade away. "You know very well the criticality of your condition and how prone you are to diseases now that your immune system is suppressed."

"Hn." Sasuke nodded.

"Once in a while, set an appointment with me so I could monitor your improvement," she shifted in her sitting position on the floor so she could point an accusing finger to him. "Don't stress your self with work, too. As much as possible, stay away from work."

Looking bored, Sasuke propped his head through his hands. "I can't just stay away from work," he told her. "My job is rather demanding."

"No, you can," insisted Sakura. "It's not like you're part of Japan's CIA or something, are you?"

Sasuke blinked at her and shrugged. Sakura could not pinpoint if those actions were actions of confirmation or denial.

She ignored them. "Besides, I'll personally tell your mother."

Finally, Sakura stood up from her sitting position on the floor and fixed her dress. She checked the time on her wristwatch and motioned for Sasuke to come.

"We're half an hour late for lunch," she said as she flexed her fingers. "I'm assuming everyone's finished eating and is wondering what happened to us."

"Hey, Dr. Haruno," Sasuke called so suddenly.

"Yes?"

For a few moments, they remained staring at each other.

"Thank you, I guess."

After all, she said the magic word "_Sorry_". Sasuke thought it was time for him to finally say his thanks.

Before Sakura could reply, a voice interrupted, "There you are, you two. Everyone's getting worried you're not yet coming."

* * *

When Sakura got home that night, she was rejuvenated anew. The Uchiha family was decent per se, with two prodigious sons who both keep decent jobs they would not state what. Uchiha Mikoto proved to be the loving type of mother who would constantly gesture lovingly towards her sons. The Uchiha patriarch appeared to be stern, but beyond the hard facade lay an understanding father.

Uchiha Itachi was a kind and gentle man. He was five years her and Sasuke's senior, the way Sai's brother, Shin, was, and he never really got married. He said he did not feel like he could be committed to a woman when he was just too committed with his work. Finally, there was Uchiha Sasuke.

_Let's just say he is not the person I thought he was_, she thought.

Sakura opened her car door and swiftly closed it shut. The moment she entered her house and switched on the lights, her cell phone rang, breaking the eerie silence inside her home.

It was an unregistered number so she hesitantly answered, "Hello?"

The same voice of the person she had been talking with for almost an hour back at the Kito residence greeted her ears as it said, "I am not Sai, but because he has his heart in me, I think he'd want me to call you and tell you to go to sleep early because I'll be seeing you tomorrow."

Sakura blinked. "Sasuke-san?"

There was a sigh from the other line. "I'm setting an appointment with you along with my mother tomorrow at ten in the morning, is that all right?"

The doctor smiled. She had gained a new and grateful patient. Sakura felt it was too refreshing and too good to be true.

"Of course. See you tomorrow."

Somewhere, Sakura felt that Sai had never really gone.

From the other line, Sasuke's sleek voice uttered, "Aa."

—'_cause i'll doze off safe and soundly  
_**{ to be continued }**

* * *

**author's notes. **_thank you for the kind reviews! ;) now what do you think about this one? haha. gahd, i felt like i hurried this off. :\_


	3. Understand

Dedicated to **Mozelle**.

**{ Kidnap My Heart }  
**_but i'll miss your arms around me_—

**CHAPTER III**_  
—Understand_

"Mrs. Uchiha," started Sakura, going over Sasuke's medical files, "I'd just like to clarify a few things with you."

The older woman directed a kind smile towards Sakura. They were the last patients the pink-haired doctor had to tend to before the scheduled lunch.

"You're aware of the post-transplant side effects on your son, are you not?"

From the corner of Sakura's eyes, she saw Sasuke's hands ball into fists. It was apparent that the man had no interest on going over what could happen to him after the operation. At this, Mikoto looked over her curiously.

"What do you mean?" Mikoto inquired. She leaned in closer to the doctor. "What side effects are you talking about? Wouldn't everything negative be over after the transplant?"

The doctor was about to reply when Mikoto tapped her on the arms and smiled. "By the way, don't call me _Mrs. Uchiha_. It sounds too formal. Just _Mikoto_ would do."

The doctor smiled and nodded, before glancing over at Sasuke. After a few seconds of contemplation, she turned back to Mikoto, pushing the medical files to the side of her desk. She wondered vaguely how she should explain matters with the Uchiha matriarch without blatantly saying Sasuke's life was incredibly shortened. This part had always been among the hardest for a surgeon like her.

It was difficult for her to say that everything was far from over.

"I'd — I'd explain this as loosely as possible, without sounding too technical."

There was silence as Mikoto waited patiently for her to continue.

"Our body is composed of systems that work together, and among these systems is the immune system, the fighting structure of our body against diseases," explained Sakura. She intertwined her fingers in front of her, watching the older woman take in her words sincerely. Sakura shifted her gaze towards the man. "And Sasuke-san, you are very much aware that you are taking cyclosporine, an immunosuppressant, right?"

Sasuke averted his stare from her and towards the ground. ". . . Hn."

Mikoto stared confusedly at her youngest. "You're taking what . . . ?"

"I take it that you didn't want Mikoto-san to worry, hm?" Sakura smiled. She was touched, but not really. It was being selfish of Sasuke to keep important facts from his own mother. "But it is important that she knows about this, so I think I'd have to spill your little secret."

The pink-haired doctor could sense the mother getting panicky. "What's going to happen to my son, Sakura-san? What's going to happen if he takes this medicine?"

"Mikoto-san, your son's immune system is purposefully damaged so as to avoid organ rejection," said Sakura. She pursed her lips together and continued, "Organ rejection happens when the immune system senses foreign organisms within the body and rejects such. However, by immunosuppression, your son is at greater risk of other diseases like pneumonia, diabetes, tuberculosis, gouts . . . even simple ones like common cold could place Sasuke-san at inevitable peril."

"Are you telling me that Sasuke-kun's not going to . . . to. . . ."

"Okaasan, if you're about to say that I'm not going to live longer, then that I can't deny," intervened Sasuke. Sakura noticed that he was looking so hesitant on speaking about his condition. "I was told so before the operation, during the medical lectures I had to attend."

"Then why didn't you say anything?" demanded Mikoto. She was already sitting on the edge of her seat. "We could have not pursued the operation at all. You should have said something, Sasuke."

"Uh, don't worry though," said Sakura, trying to calm down the woman. She placed her hands in front of her. The smile she wore told the older woman to relax. "Rest assured that I'll do my very best to keep him alive longer than majority of transplant patients. Also, he'll be able to live a normal and active life, but it's going to take sufficient surveillance from me."

Mikoto looked so lost and disappointed that Sakura felt even more obligated to say, "Mikoto-san, I'd like to inform you that I am willing to be Sasuke-san's personal attendant until he successfully goes back to normalcy."

The statement took the mother and son by surprise. To offer personal attention was the least of their expectations from the doctor.

Sakura gazed at the mother and son seriously. "I wouldn't want to waste the life Sai has given your son, Mikoto-san."

Sasuke scoffed and said, "It would always root down to him. Always."

"Sasuke!" called Mikoto in a reprimanding tone. Her black eyes glowered over to her son, silently screaming so many lectures.

Sasuke tsked. "Hey, Sakura." It was the first time Sakura ever heard him call her name without mockery, so she immediately dismissed the angered feeling that was starting to build up from the pit of her stomach. "I need you to do me a medical clearance stating that I am healthy enough to attend to my job."

"No." This time, it was both women who spoke.

The pink-haired doctor pointed her expensive fountain pen on him. "I'll never let you go back to work when you cannot even stand on your own two feet alone," Sakura explained. "Besides, stressing yourself will expose you to greater tendency of rejection."

Mikoto unconsciously gripped the edge of the doctor's desk. "I thought rejection's impossible now that his immune system is suppressed?" she asked, completely confused.

"You see, heart rejection is inevitable during the first year of post-transplant." Sakura sighed and twirled her pen around her fingers. She referred to Sasuke when she stated, "I suggest you take a one-year-leave from work unless you're exceptionally OK."

"Being _exceptionally OK_ is something that goes from nearly impossible to impossible," complained Sasuke, glaring then. It was as if they never made up. "Do you seriously expect me to just stay at home and do nothing?"

Mikoto looked at her son imploringly and held his hand. She told him, "I'm sure that's not what she means, Sasuke-kun."

"Then what?"

"I don't want you to die without finishing your first year, all right?" intervened Sakura. Her eyes showed exasperation as she leaned back on her seat, her lips pursed and eyes seemingly calculating. For the incalculable moment that day, she felt her heart ready to burst anytime. "Let's leave out the Sai-thing and focus on what _I _feel. I would not forgive myself if I once again see a mother crying for her son who would never come back, especially if it's because _I_ failed."

Silence mixed into the atmosphere and tension boiled down between the two younger adults. They glared at each other in all seriousness, challenging the other to cave in first.

"I suggest a change of subject?" Mikoto asked tentatively, eyes darting to and fro her son and his doctor. She could sense the tension brewing, and she would not want a doctor telling off her son again.

Sakura looked away from the dark-haired man and chuckled nervously. "Er, I second the motion."

Sasuke grunted and Mikoto smiled. She held Sakura's free hand in hers from across the doctor's desk and sincerely and childishly asked, "Will I ever get to have grandchildren from Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke choked. Sakura swore she could have laughed.

"Will I ever get to have grandchildren at all? I couldn't get Itachi to marry, and Sasuke broke too many hearts already!" Mikoto was already flailing. "And just when I proved to myself that my Sasuke-kun is _not_ gay, I'd find out he's exposed to many diseases already. Tell me, Dr. Haruno, is one of these diseases HIV?"

Sakura's cheeks were hurting from forcing down a huge grin.

"Actually, it's up to him if he'd want to have children," explained Sakura, turning to eye the man in question. "It's true that he could gain HIV anytime anywhere, but that is if he is ever involved with someone who has such."

"So?" the Uchiha matriarch asked, waiting for more.

"According to his records, there's no HIV history." Sakura was grinning. "_But_ if he ever marries someone who has that condition, well . . . you get the gist."

The Uchiha man covered his face with his hand and shook his head. He could not believe that they were actually talking about that. "Will you stop talking about this — this — this idiotic thing already?"

"How dare you call this idiotic, you young man?" demanded Mikoto. She glared at her son and continued, "This is your future!"

Somewhere, the mother and son heard a soft "Pffft."

During the last few minutes of their appointment and during the last few minutes before Sakura's break, Mikoto claimed she had somewhere else to go and kindly asked Sakura to look after Sasuke while he waited for Itachi to come and fetch him. Having settled with the arrangement, the well-known doctor asked the man to come with her to lunch.

"Your mother still doesn't know about the criticality of your condition," started Sakura, pushing Sasuke's wheeled chair from behind. She nodded her head in recognition to all familiar persons they happened to pass by.

". . . I know," Sasuke deadpanned.

"That you could die at any given moment," continued the doctor and sighed.

"Hn."

Sakura looked down at the man and raised an eyebrow. "Do you even care?"

"Of course I care," answered Sasuke, glaring already. He tilted his head so that he was already staring at her. "That's why I never told her."

They were once again engulfed in silence as they made their way towards the hospital's cafeteria. Sakura's sneakers squeaked against the marble floors when she made a sudden stop in front of the elevator that would lead them to the ground floor.

"I plan to visit Sai's grave." Sasuke heard her loud intake of breath. "Do you want to go with me?"

". . ."

"It's been a while since I've been there, anyway, and I take it you haven't been there yet so. . . ."

"Why? Why do you want me to go?" asked Sasuke, his face devoid of any emotions.

"Because we finally let go of the little ire we had, I thought you should also free yourself from your rivalry with him." Sakura wetted her lips as she waited for the elevator doors to open.

"It goes way beyond rivalry, Sakura. Why do you think I'm so worked up about having his heart inside me?"

"I —"

"Sakura, is that you?"

Sakura looked over her shoulder to see who had called her. To her surprise, there stood an old colleague of her, Lin Tenten. Tenten, Chinese-born, was her best friend up until before their college days, when Tenten had to leave for Osaka to study there.

"It really _is _you!" continued Tenten, heading over to the pair and hugging the doctor excitedly. She grinned up at Sakura before hugging her tightly again. "Oh my God! I miss you!"

"Tenten?" Sakura called out in response. Still out of it, she grinned and unknowingly embraced the woman back. "I — what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I came for a check-up," answered Tenten. They finally let go of each other and she continued, when Sakura threw her a questioning glance, "Job purposes."

They embraced yet again, still unbelieving by the spur-of-the-moment events. It had almost been ten years since they last saw each other, and being able to take in the changes of each was both amazing and scary. They had been in touch through social websites, but they had not seen each other personally since they graduated from high school.

Tenten held Sakura's hand and her lips curved downwards. "I heard about Sai — that guy you've been telling me about over at Facebook — I'm sorry I wasn't there when —"

"I, uh, it's all right. I'm all right. Everything's OK." Sakura grinned.

Sakura's old friend heaved a sigh. "Nothing's changed on you, eh? Still being the same hypocrite that I knew of."

"Hey!" grunted Sakura, pouting.

"Oh, who's this?" Tenten asked, ignoring Sakura's protest. She appeared to finally notice the forgotten man who sat on the wheeled chair in front of them both. The brown-haired woman gasped upon taking note of the man's appearance. "Sasuke? 'That you?"

The mentioned man rolled his eyes. "Are you suffering from optic illness?"

"Because you're being an ass, then it really is you," Tenten noted with a mischievous smile. "What are you doing here? With Sakura, I mean."

"He's my patient," stated Sakura, giving the two curious glances.

"Interesting," mumbled Tenten, the mischief still lingering on her smile. "Let's talk this over lunch."

Sasuke, glaring at the woman, immediately replied, "_No_."

"I'm not asking permission, Jerk. I'm commanding you." Tenten looped her arm with Sakura's free one happily and gave the man a sideway glance.

"No." Sasuke's eyes narrowed further.

Tenten shrugged and turned to Sakura impishly. "Oh well, it's not like he has a choice anyway, ne, Sak?"

The pink-haired doctor giggled and ignored Sasuke's furious stare. "We were actually planning on having lunch together."

"Great! Let's go, then."

Just in time, the elevator doors finally split open.

* * *

"So, how's life?"

They had finished lunch by then. Sasuke had received a call from Itachi halfway through eating saying it would take a little while longer before he could be fetched. It explained why Sasuke was grumpily fumbling with his empty plate and used chopsticks.

As if it was not bad enough that he had to endure an hour or so of companionship with his doctor, another annoying acquaintance of his had to appear. Tenten and Hyuuga Neji were his closest friends back in college as they studied criminology together. The two were engaged a year ago and, if he was not mistaken, were set to marry in the middle of the year.

"Being an ass to me," Sasuke grumbled.

"Hm. Funny, because you're one."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at his old friend's response. He thought everything would have changed after he turned down Tenten and Neji's offer for him to work with them in Tokyo Police Department, but he guessed wrong. The woman was still the same.

"I think the perfect translation for that is that he's not OK," quipped Sakura, giggling. "He just had his heart transplantation two months ago."

Tenten chuckled as she turned to Sakura, saying, "Woe is the owner of the person's heart. The recipient is a bastard."

Sasuke stiffened and he felt Sakura do so, too. They exchanged an awkward glance before Sakura quietly said, ". . . The donor is Sai, Tenten."

There was silence as Tenten glanced from Sasuke, to Sakura, then back at Sasuke. She cleared her throat. ". . . OK, well all the more reason for me to feel sorry for Sai. Sasuke's a —"

"Would you just shut up on calling me jerk?" Sasuke cut off, glaring at the woman. He was not going to admit it, but they were lucky that Tenten had always been an optimistic person.

"I was about to say ass," deadpanned Tenten.

"You —"

"Shut it, you guys," intervened Sakura. Sasuke thought it was nice that she grinned. "How did you two know each other anyway?"

"College," came Sasuke's brief response.

Tenten, to Sasuke's annoyance, was rather wordy. "We went to the same university along with Neji. We kick ass."

"How many times have you mentioned that annoying word?"

"What? _Ass_?"

Sasuke clenched his fists while Sakura laughed. The two women, much to Sasuke's dismay, appeared to enjoy each other's company as they clasped their hands together.

"Tenten, I think he missed you too much," Sakura pointed out, making Sasuke glare. The man huffed but did not correct her. In a way, he _did_ miss bantering with the woman. Neji's even more annoying interference would complete the argument.

Tenten chuckled and patted Sasuke haughtily at the back. Sasuke almost smirked at the woman's proud reply. "No duh. I'm cool like that."

Sasuke was about to say something when Tenten's phone rang.

_I'm sexy and I know it . . ._

The man covered his mouth with the back of his hand to hide his lips that had formed a huge smirk — deep inside he knew Neji was calling Tenten — while he amusedly watched Sakura choke on her unfinished drink.

Tenten laughed as she flipped her phone and answered the call happily. She winked at the pair as she stood up and went a little farther from them.

"Yes, my dearest hubby?" Sasuke heard her say.

"Hubby?" mumbled Sakura curiously. "I didn't know she married."

Sasuke thought it would be nice to feed her curiosity. "Her fiancé. The Neji she was talking about earlier that we went to college with."

"I know Neji."

The man blinked. "You do?"

Sakura nodded and answered, "He was also a classmate until before college. I didn't know they got engaged, though. An hour just wouldn't do to catch up with ten years of not seeing each other."

"Aa." Sasuke looked down at his empty plate.

"Sak, Jerk!" Tenten slammed her hands down on their table with a huge grin on her face. "I have to go."

Sakura smiled. "Sure. I'm sorry we kept you longer than expected."

"Nah," Tenten replied, grabbing her bag. "I really had fun seeing not only one, but _two_ of my friends! Anyway, Neji was on the phone, and he said he's got a little surprise for me."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "By _surprise_ he meant Hiashi going at you again."

It surprised the man that both women glared at him. Neither said anything.

Tenten was ready to go when she shot Sasuke a serious look. In a soft, but threatening voice, she told him, "I've never met Sai, Sasuke, but I _know_ that that heart inside you right now — _his_ heart — beat for Sakura once upon a time. _That _heart has been in love with her since only God knows when, so when the time comes that _you_ decided you love my friend, be sure it's not because you felt obliged. Be sure it's not because Sai's heart is in you. Be sure because it's _you_."

It was not until thirty minutes later when Sakura awkwardly bid him good-bye as he left with Itachi that Tenten's words finally sink in Sasuke. He sat in the passenger seat of Itachi's car, watching the places they passed by.

He thought, '_I would never fall in love with a woman like her_' — at that, he felt as if his new heart skipped a beat — '_right_?'

"Maybe it's too soon to say that," he heard Itachi say. Blinking upon the irony of his brother's words, Sasuke looked at his brother to see him talking on the phone through his Bluetooth device. "OK. Bye."

Itachi, after ending the call, turned and stared at him. "Yes, otouto?"

The younger man shook his head and shrugged.

"Nothing," he replied.

A few seconds later, he received an SMS from the woman who haunted his thoughts a little since earlier that day.

_Don't forget to take cyclosporine after dinner. We wouldn't want your mom to panic. :)_

Yup. Maybe it was too soon to say he would not fall.

—_i'd send a postcard to you, dear  
_**{ to be continued }**

* * *

**author's notes. **_i forgot to mention in the previous chapters that the title came from The Click Five's "Kidnap My Heart" and that the lyrics in italics that are being used are from Owl City's "Vanilla Twilight". thank you for everyone who reviewed, who favourite-d this thing, and those who also subscribed to this. :) review?_


	4. Reveal

Dedicated to **Mozelle**.

**{ Kidnap My Heart }  
**_'cause i wish you were here_—

**CHAPTER IV**_  
—Reveal_

Sakura replaced the hard-bound book she had just read back to its proper space on the shelf she had in her bedroom. Her eyes lingered a little bit more on the spine of the book she just had — _Cardiac Transplantation and Its Disadvantages _— before she turned on her heels and faced her best friend, Yamanaka Ino, who sat on her bed lazily, her back pressed against the headboard.

Ino, in Sakura's opinion, was very beautiful, even more so if she lessened the make-up she placed on her face every hour. Her blonde hair was held up in a high ponytail, highlighting much of her baby-blue eyes.

"The idiot's actually getting married," Sakura heard Ino mumble for the third time in one minute. It was she who told her the news about Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata's wedding plans, and she could not help but cringe upon the thought of a wilder response from her friend.

To let go of a little bit of the wariness she felt, Sakura laughed softly.

"Oh, come on," commented Sakura, pulling out yet another book off her shelf. As she headed back to her bed that Ino occupied, she continued, "They've been engaged for over two years already. It's about time they get married soon. I mean, after Naruto actually grovelled for Hiashi's blessing."

Ino snorted, and Sakura already knew what was running inside her head.

"I like to see him grovel some more."

"Ino-pig, you sadistic woman, you!" The roseate-haired doctor tried to giggle, but even to her own ears it sounded unreal. She gave a sideway glance on the blonde. "Say you've gotten over your breakup from senior year in high school."

Ino smirked and stared in thin air. "Like, _duh_. I don't want to get stuck with an idiotic man like him, anyway."

"But you still love him, right?" Sakura only flipped the pages on her book, but was not really reading. She was trying to sense Ino and she was almost certain that the temperature in the room relatively dropped.

". . . This is dangerous territory we're walking on, Forehead. You know it."

Sakura frowned and fully turned on her friend. She continued, willing to make Ino cave in, "That's why until now, you haven't been to any serious relationship —"

"Forehead!"

The two stared at each other, Ino's gaze growing in more intensity. Sakura courageously held her best friend's strong glare, but wavered later on. She sighed.

"All right, all right. I'm sorry. It's just that you haven't been happy since. And it's almost been ten years."

Ino still glared. "You're not supposed to tell me that. You've been faking your laughs and smiles since Sai's death."

"We're so not talking about that."

"So why dare talk about _my_ case?"

"Because it's time to let go, Ino! Let go!" Sakura stood up from her bed and walked around so she could be on the other side of her best friend. She kneeled down in front of Ino and held her hands. "Ten years have been long enough and Hinata-chan, she — she — she _needs_ you."

Silence perpetuated between the two of them. Sakura wetted her lips and gazed imploringly on her friend.

"I love you, Ino. So please, it's time you find the right man for you, give Hinata-chan and Naruto your blessing, and be happy."

Ino smiled, patting the space beside her so Sakura could sit there. Sakura could not figure it out clearly, but Ino did not really say if she was convinced or not. Instead, Ino said, "Then you should do, too."

"I knew you're gonna turn it to me soon," commented Sakura dryly. She rolled her eyes. "_No_. I have a lot in my head right now."

Ino giggled. "I'm going to try and find a serious relationship, and you, after your not-so-and-yet-very-apparent relationship with Sai, should do, too. Right now, one of the things that has to be in our heads is how to gain a boyfriend."

"Ino!" Sakura protested, her lips pouting sideways.

"You've been avoiding boys since Sai — at least, besides your patients — and I think you're getting paranoid by not —" Ino cut herself short when Sakura groaned. "Forehead, please. Try to be happy even just this once."

"I'll never be happy, Ino, don't you get it?" Exasperation laced Sakura's tone, and she felt as if everything was going downhill from there. It had only been a little past two months since Sai's death and she was _not_ ready for any touchy conversations.

The doctor basked in the silence of her friend.

"I'll never be happy especially when I had to live this life filled with regret and sorry. So please, shut your mouth already."

Sakura never meant her words to be too harsh. She almost backtracked when Ino shot her a dry look that screamed plentiful of emotions.

"OK," Ino replied, standing up from the bed.

It was when her bedroom door clicked shut that Sakura realised she was not being fair.

* * *

Pocketing his hands into his coat's pockets, Sasuke entered the warm confines of the café he and his idiotic best friend, Uzumaki Naruto, set to meet at. He looked around the tiny place and instantly spotted the blond man who appeared busy with playing crossword.

It had been two weeks since he had seen Sakura — two weeks since their last appointment with each other, two weeks since they last talked. The only things that kept them connected were Sakura's text messages on him regarding his medications, messages he did not bother to reply on.

"Teme!" The idiot he called best friend seemed to have finally noticed him still on the doorway, and yelled his nickname.

When Sasuke managed to finally sit down across Naruto, he called back, "Dobe."

Naruto looked him up and down and grinned. "I see you can already walk. I heard that the transplant was too heavy for your body to get used to, so I wish I was here to see you unable to stand up on your own and needing that special whatnot chair to move around. It looks funny . . . I guess. But then again, you always look funny. Chicken hair."

Sasuke sent the blond man his fiercest glare yet.

"Cut it, Dobe. What did you call _me_ here for?"

"Marriage," Naruto replied, taking a sip on the warm coffee he had purchased.

Only a few things could make Uchiha Sasuke's eyes widen, and one of these few things was the one word Naruto had just spoken. His best friend appeared to belatedly realise what the single word seemed to imply with just the two of them there on the table, so it was almost comical when he sputtered on his drink.

"No!" the blond yelled. "No — no! I mean, I'm getting married, dammit! I don't mean anything else — oh shit. Why did you even think that?"

Sasuke stared blankly. _Seriously_.

"I guess I don't want to know that you may have some hidden feeli —"

The glare Sasuke sent heightened.

Naruto seemed to feel the atmosphere run cold, so he did a double take. "All right, all right. Sheesh, Teme, I'm getting married in about six months, OK?"

"I should care because?"

"You're gonna be my Best Man." Sasuke's eyes, if it could be narrowed further, would have turned into slits by then. He did not like the sly smile Naruto sent his way.

"For all I know, you're going to match make me again and ask help from Mother," said Sasuke, settling on rolling his eyes. "So forget about me being your Best Man."

"What crawled in your ass and got stuck? And hyperventilated then died? And —"

"Dobe."

"Yes?"

"Shut your trap."

Naruto grinned — it was the kind of impish smile that Sasuke never liked Naruto wearing. "Oh, I guess you don't want talking about arses and stuff like —"

"I've had enough from Tenten a few weeks ago, now shut it," Sasuke told the blond, remembering the events two weeks prior. Upon recalling the memory, he felt his blood boil.

"Hm." The smile on Naruto was still intact when he commented, "Tennie did a great job on riling you up."

Sasuke's black eyes narrowed for the umpteenth time that Sunday afternoon.

The forensic investigator almost smirked smugly when Naruto seemed to realise he was nearing the end of his patience.

"Anyway, as I was saying, you're gonna be my Best Man, got that, Big B?"

Big B was nickname — Big Bastard. It was a childish name that Sasuke's friends in college used to call him when it appeared that he was completely impatient.

"No," came Sasuke's immediate response.

"Oh, come on. It's not one of my match making schemes, I promise," swore Naruto, holding up his right hand like the Boy Scout he wanted to be. "Like, it's my most important day and I'm going to be giving you a _gift_? And what's bad about being match made?"

Sasuke leaned in, narrowing his eyes on Naruto threateningly. "Gift? It's not a gift when I end up getting nearly raped. It's not something to be happy about when I end up crashing my favourite car. I end up wanting to feed you your toads, so stop now or you'll regret it."

"Errr. . . . Fine, fine." Sasuke knew Naruto loved his toads too much to concede. "But you're still going to be Best Man. So you'll help me in preparations, according to Hinata-chan. Then Maid of Honour will help the bride. Then Best Man and Maid of Honour work together, get together then —"

"_Naruto_."

"Right." The mentioned man cleared his throat. "Her name's Yamanaka Ino."

"Name doesn't ring a bell," commented Sasuke. He shrugged.

"There's . . . a problem with her. Between me and her, I mean."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Naruto was not one to hold a grudge against anyone, and he was not someone people despised and not get along with either. Having someone hate him was big news.

Naruto sheepishly grinned. "It's been more than two years since I last saw her, and I guess she's still mad from ten years ago."

"So?"

"I cheated on her with Hinata-chan ten years ago, you see." Naruto sighed, and Sasuke looked _astonished_, for a lack of better words. Sasuke did know that Naruto was a magnet for friends, but for girls to be fighting for him, that was another story. "And she's among Hinata-chan's best friends. And I ruined their friendship and Hinata-chan wants to reconcile and stuff. This is the best thing we can do to reconnect them both."

Neither spoke for a long time. It was then that a waiter came for Sasuke's order and came back with a steaming cup of coffee. It was weirder than Sasuke anticipated it to be.

Deciding to cut the silence, Sasuke asked, "How are you going to make her agree if until now she's still mad at you?"

"That's where the other best friend comes in. She's supposed to convince her and stuff. Oh" — Naruto grinned as he checked on his wristwatch for the time — "and she's supposed to be here riiiight about now."

Naruto's blue eyes looked past Sasuke and smiled blindingly.

Out of curiosity and surprise (for he did not know they would have someone with them at that meeting), Sasuke looked over his shoulder and toward the door that led to the inside of the café. He raised his eyebrows in disbelief upon taking in the figure of the newcomer.

_Sakura_.

The woman did not seem to see him first and instead saw Naruto. She hurried to where they were and lightly shrieked, "Naruto! I'm so sorry! Ino-pig and I argued about things and I" — she saw Sasuke — ". . . I failed."

The two adults stared at each other, taking in each of their presence. Sasuke raised an eyebrow while Sakura's mouth hung. Naruto, on the other hand, looked at each of them back and forth.

"Dudes, don't say this is what they call love at first sight?" asked Naruto, almost laughing at his friends' expressions.

The blond cringed when Sasuke shot him _the_ look. Sakura chose to ignore him.

"Sasuke? What are you doing here?"

Sasuke thought it was supposed to be his question. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"No, no! What are _you_ doing here?" Sakura was already smiling. She pulled the seat out on one side and looked at him and Naruto. "I mean — Naruto? You know each other?"

Naruto looked like he caught on and asked, "Wait — you guys know each other?"

"You know each other?" came Sasuke's same inquiry.

Naruto and Sakura started laughing, and Sasuke nearly smiled.

* * *

Sakura shook her head at the irony. She and Sasuke had more connection than she cared to admit. It was almost laughable.

"I'd really, really love to know all about our histories, but back to business." Sakura's smiling face dimmed. "I failed to inform Ino that you're choosing her to be Hinata-chan's Maid of Honour."

"But why?" was Naruto's immediate question.

"I'm so sorry, Naruto," said Sakura softly. She pursed her lips, trying to carefully word her thoughts. "Our conversation, after telling Ino-pig that in six months' time you're marrying off, turned to this and that and then . . . we somewhat fought."

Sasuke scoffed. "That's just rich."

"Aw man."

It was a failure, but there was hope for Sakura. She smiled again and told Naruto, "But we still have six more months to get her to agree. And it's not like it's going to take her that long."

Naruto nodded then slyly smiled at the doctor. "So what do you say that you, Sakura-chan, take Ino's place for a while and be with Sasuke in helping us prepare?"

The aforementioned man's eyes narrowed yet again. "Did I agree yet, Dobe?"

"But duh, seeing as you're rather" — Naruto cleared his throat far more tauntingly than Sakura would like — "familiar with Sakura-chan, why not?"

"You have got to be kidding me."

Sakura giggled. "Oh, come on, Sasuke-kun." She paused upon noticing Sasuke's coffee. "What the hell are you drinking?"

Sasuke and Naruto blinked simultaneously.

"Coffee."

"You idiot!" Sakura screeched, relatively paling.

Sasuke glared. "What now?"

Sakura felt there was no other person as insensitive as the black-haired man with her that day. "You're actually taking in caffeine! That's not good for you!"

"I've been drinking coffee for a long time now, why would today make any difference?" spat Sasuke.

"Because _I_'m here. Because I'm your doctor and I say you can't keep on taking caffeine until I say so."

Sakura noticed he was not on wheelchair. Her thoughts drove her wild when she realised that Sasuke did not inform her when he began standing with no support. He had to have told her so she could refer her to a physical therapist and—

"And you didn't set an appointment or called me upon having been able to finally stand up again! Are you really trying to kill yourself?"

"Sakura-chan, calm down," Naruto intervened.

"No, Naruto. This guy —" Sakura groaned and harrumphed. "Sasuke, you're sooo incorrigible. Come on."

Sakura stood up, taking her handbag with her.

"No."

Naruto blinked furiously and thought that his friends were actually planning on leaving. "Uhh, guys? We're in the middle of _planning_."

The two paid him no heed.

"Come _on_."

"No."

"_Come on_."

Sakura thought she won jackpot when Sasuke glowered dejectedly at her and yielded. ". . . Fine. Bullshit."

Sasuke stood up and wore his coat. Sakura started towards the door, leaving with Sasuke for the hospital, and leaving Naruto gaping at them behind.

And Naruto thought they were supposed to be his friends.

—_i'll watch the night turn light blue  
_**{ to be continued }**

* * *

**author's note. **_obviously hurried. i still have to study for an exam tomorrow so i'll upload a much better (read: edited) version sometime. for now, let's do with this. :P thank you for the reviews and love!_

_p.s. questions? random questions? ask me on__ (exclude the spaces): ask . fm / serachan011_


	5. Frustrate

Dedicated to **Mozelle**.

**{ Kidnap My Heart }  
**_but it's not the same without you_—

**CHAPTER V**_  
—Frustrate_

Sasuke watched Sakura hurriedly reverse-park her silver Chevrolet into the parking space. She let out a heavy breath of frustration as she cut off the ignition. Sasuke glowered when she angrily turned to him.

"I can't believe you."

Sasuke's frown deepened. If anything, it was Sasuke who should be saying the statement. The moment they had left the café, Sakura had immediately pulled him through the parking lot, reached her car, and sharply turned to him, hissing, "_Idiot_."

It appalled Sasuke so much that he shot the doctor with anger-driven glare. But before he could have even responded with equal ire, Sasuke had been yanked down into the car, about to be brought to wherever.

What right did the woman have to tell him just that?

"I can't believe _you_," said Sasuke back, leaning against his seat the moment he had unclasped his seatbelt.

"No! I can't believe _you_," insisted Sakura. She pursed her lips together and looked ahead of them, her hands resting on the stirring wheel. "I can't believe that you did not even confer this with me."

Sasuke scoffed and shook his head. Couldn't this woman get it? He did not want to have 24/7 surveillance from her.

"Why should I? It's not your —"

"I'm your doctor, and it goes against my oath if I can't keep sufficient surveillance on you."

The man that sat on the passenger seat fought the urge to roll his eyes. That was the point. He did not want any _more_ shadowing from her. It irritated him somehow.

Sakura looked at him and repeated, "I can't believe you."

"Shut up," Sasuke hissed, closing his eyes. "You're annoying."

"Says the person who would not even reply to my text messages," accused Sakura as she glared back. She unbuckled herself and turned to Sasuke, eyeing him critically. "I should have known. Even Mikoto-san did not even tell me."

Sasuke almost groaned in annoyance. As if it was not enough, she just had to turn this to his mother. He would never let that happen. "It's because she didn't know, annoying woman."

"What?"

He hated the surprised look she shot him. "She's abroad right now, so she didn't know," he explained. "I didn't tell. So don't turn this on my mother."

Sakura blinked. "Your brother should have at least —"

"He couldn't actually care any lesser, but he did," answered Sasuke, looking out at his side's window. "I can walk now, and that's all that matters, really."

"You are so frustrating."

_Many have said so_, Sasuke had wanted to say, but did not. Instead, he looked up at the familiar tall building adjacent to the parking lot and inwardly grimaced. A few months ago, he had been brought to this same place to perform an operation on him that had now changed his life. _Gravely_ changed his life.

"Why did you bring me here, anyway?" he asked, when curiosity got the better of him.

Sasuke did not like the smug look Sakura had on her face. "I'm bringing you to a PT."

"A what?"

"A physical therapist," answered Sakura knowingly. She reached for her bag that sat on the floor below the dashboard and fished for her phone.

Sasuke did not reply. He merely looked at her with boiling frustration.

"You'll need it," snapped Sakura upon sensing Sasuke's irritation. "Muscles that are idle for over two months could cause you more harm if shocked to motion."

"This has to be quick."

"It actually depends."

"What the fu —"

Sasuke was cut off when Sakura glared. "Don't talk obscene words on me, you bastard."

"But you said —"Sasuke tried reasoning.

"It depends on the PT I'm bringing you to, OK?" said Sakura, skimming through her phone. "Your post-therapy could take days, weeks, or months, depending on how he sees you fit. By the way, stop the coffee."

Sasuke almost paled upon hearing the possible duration of the therapy. He had always been looking forward to being physically fit to be able to get to the job that he had always dreamt of even as a child.

He would not dare go into cheesiness, but he loved his work. The few idle months he had made his desire to go back pile up in the pit of his stomach.

So he said things that instantly went in his mind.

"It couldn't take me weeks! I have work, and that work needs my body."

Sakura's eyes snapped up from her phone's screen to his face. "Every work needs a body, idiot. But you'll do better in work if you have a _healthy_ body, not some mushed . . . rotting potato kind of body."

Sasuke looked appalled. "You just didn't compare my body to some rotten potato."

"I just did," replied Sakura, grinning. She turned her attention back to her device as she continued, "And I could do some worse analogy if you keep putting up a fight with me."

"Analogy like?" challenged Sasuke. The woman, after all, could use some challenge in life.

It surprised Sasuke when in a heartbeat, Sakura managed to reply, "Like your heart's going to start bruising like ugly tomato if not given enough work out."

Sasuke glared. Sakura just _did not_ use his favourite fruit as an analogy to his current state. And she just _did not_ call a tomato _ugly_.

Sakura, to Sasuke's chagrin, did _not_ stop. "And it will smell and wrinkle and—"

"Fine."

It annoyed Sasuke when the doctor beside him mocked her surprise. She gasped and turned incredulously towards him. She told him, "I kind of didn't hear what you just said."

He frowned. "I said fine."

"Wait, what?" Sasuke swore his knuckles turned white upon Sakura's obvious mockery. His frown deepened when his doctor went on, "Some fly buzzed about my ears so I didn't quite catch what you said."

When Sasuke was a kid, he had been too spoiled. Anything he asked for, his parents — his mother most especially — would hand it over in a blink of an eye. Had he not liked one thing, his parents would go out of their ways to dispose of it. He was king, and they were his _minions_. But then again, that was once upon a time.

This time, Sakura was _king_, and he was _slave_. And he did not know why, understand how, but he kind of enjoyed being that way.

Gazing at his doctor's mischievous and laughing green eyes, Sasuke felt that he could live with it for a while longer.

"Fine! Just take me to that fucking PT," said Sasuke looking away.

"Good." Sakura's smile was smug. "Oh, and again, stop the coffee. Or worse analogy about tomatoes."

Sasuke glared at nothing. _How did she know?_

"Oh, and I think I'll have to thank Naruto for this," said Sakura, looking down her phone. It buzzed, and she laughed as she read the contents of her new SMS.

Sasuke felt his blood run cold.

_Naruto_.

* * *

"Ah, Sakura-san, the youthful cherry blossom of my ever-so-youthful life! How may I be of your honorary service?"

Sasuke felt like gagging. In front of him stood a very active, wide-eyed, and bushy-browed man in green spandex. The man had been frustratingly swooning over his doctor, and said doctor actually _giggled_ in response to the weirdo's advances.

"Thanks, Lee-san," Sakura told the man. She smiled and gestured towards Sasuke. "Uh, this is Sasuke, my current transplant patient. He's just recently begun working on his muscles again, and I was wondering if you could set therapy plans for him."

Sasuke, being such a good-looking man, despised it when girls ogle him over. He felt as if he was being undressed with just their eyes; he would not admit it, but he feared those kinds of girls.

So having a man look him over like those girls almost spiked Sasuke's stress levels top notch.

"Such youthful, fine, specimen!" Lee stared Sasuke up and Sasuke _swore_ that he saw the PT's wide eyes _sparkle_. "Great, young body, so full of muscles and so little of fats! The perfect body composition —"

He went on and on. Sasuke shot Sakura a hard gaze.

Sakura laughed. "Follow me up with your observations later, Lee-san. In my office. See you in two hours, Sasuke."

Sasuke's frown remained intact.

_The bitch_.

* * *

Sasuke was in a cab on his way to his workplace when he felt his phone vibrate from his pants' pocket. He fished through it and checked the caller ID.

_Incoming call . . .  
— Mom_

He pressed the answer button and answered, "Mom."

"_Don't sound so . . . I don't know — annoyed?"_ said Mikoto from the other line. Sasuke could almost hear the mischief in her unseen smile.

"You have no idea."

Only a few minutes after his first therapy session from Lee, Sasuke had texted Mikoto about his condition. He was meaning to surprise his parents upon their return from abroad about him being able to walk again, but after the stress of attending therapy with a man he did not like at first glance, Sasuke could not help but tell his mother about it all.

He had told her how Sakura managed to force him into it, and it frustrated him how Mikoto seemed to like the idea.

Mikoto laughed. _"She's a miracle-doer, isn't she? After having you manage to attend something like that —"_

"Forcing me is more like it," Sasuke corrected.

"_But you let yourself be forced to, so it's really surprising, Sasu-chan." _Mikoto laughed again. _"I'm inviting her over for dinner later, Sasuke, and you can do nothing about it. Your dad and I are only a few away from home. We're on our way."_

Almost too immediately, Sasuke felt his head pounding again.

* * *

The snarky remark of his operative in the forensics division annoyed the hell out of Sasuke.

"What are you doing here?"

Sasuke glared at the periwinkle-haired man working on one of the lab tables in the room. He went over to him and said, "I'm boss."

Hozuki Suigetsu did not even bother looking up from his current work. He manipulated with the microscope he had and pulled away to jot down data. He said to Sasuke, "But that doesn't mean you're allowed to be here."

"Who says."

Suigetsu grinned and finally turned his attention toward the boss. "Naruto."

Sasuke felt his blood boiling again for the said blond. The fact that in just one day, Naruto had managed to irk him in more ways than one could make him kill the man at any moment then.

"The dobe."

His subordinate laughed. "He says something about your doctor turning into an evil bitch if she finds out you go to work."

"She wouldn't turn into an evil bitch because she already is one," commented Sasuke as he got one of the folders lying on top of a nearby table. "She doesn't know what my job is. She doesn't know I'm here."

"But —"

"I'm not working."

"Oh, well, fine. But" — Sasuke did not like the sly smirk Suigetsu shot him — "is she hot?"

"Fuck off, Suigetsu." He glared when the other man began laughing. Sasuke sat on one of the high stools around and skimmed through the paperwork he got.

"Seems to me she's feisty," remarked Suigetsu, turning back to his job.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Suigetsu."

"Well, just saying," continued the periwinkle-haired man, trying to pacify his boss. "Naruto has said quite a lot, 'ya know."

"I wouldn't want to hear anything about that."

"Whatever, Big B."

For half an hour, the two investigators talked about things that had run about the office in the long while that Sasuke had been gone. And even though Sasuke had said that he did not go there to work, he could not help but be on work mode. Suigetsu, after all, did not seem to mind.

"Have you sent a copy of this report to Division III?" Sasuke asked, completely forgetting that he was not there for the job.

"Uh-huh," answered Suigetsu anyway. "Had to re-expound some details but it ended up clean."

"Hn. Good."

"Sasuke!" a voice called out.

Both men looked up from what they were doing to Inuzuka Kiba, a brown-haired man with tattoos on the face, who was leaning on the wall adjacent the glass doors of the laboratory. He held up a wireless phone.

"Emergency call for you." Kiba's face turned serious. "And by emergency, I really mean it."

Sasuke frowned while Suigetsu whistled. Mobile phones were not allowed upon entering the workplace, so he had to surrender his own at the entrance. Only a few people knew what it meant if he did not answer a phone call on his mobile, and he felt like he knew who was on the other end of the line.

Almost warily, Sasuke took the wireless phone from the Inuzuka's grasp. He held it in his ears and said, "Uchiha Sasuke speaking."

Muffled sobbing sent Sasuke's heart throbbing.

"Tenten?"

—_because it takes two to whisper quietly  
_**{ to be continued }**

* * *

**author's notes. **_i'm really, really sorry for the long wait! and the short update. :( i'd experienced the spontaneous hell weeks of my life in the past few and i could not find time to work on this chapter. sorry. i'm currently a little bit free from academic load so i might update sooner. :) thank you for the very kind reviews and i'm looking forward for more. haha. i'm looking forward to hearing from you, guys._

_forgive my shameless advertisement, but i've written a new anthology. :) if before, i've written about __**how to break things off with your boyfriend**__, this time, i have written __**how to move on**__. or at least, reminders on how to move on. :P it's entitled "the moving on chronicle". check it out if you have the time. :D_


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